When the world was young, a husband and wife went looking for food in a nearby billabong. The man dived into the water, feeling about with his hands, searching for the turtles, which he knew were there, while his wife waited on the bank.
"I found some" he cried out "Over here!' and he started to hand the turtles, one by one, to his wife. Soon her dilly-bag was full.
"That's enough." she said, "We have plenty to feed ourselves and the whole family." But her husband would not listen and continued to hand up more and more turtles.
"That's enough!" she said again. But still he husband would not listen and continued to catch and hand up more and more turtles.
So his wife called out again "Enough! I cannot carry any more and we have plenty already. We will be sick if we eat all of these. Put some back!" But instead of stopping, her husband became angry.
"Leave me alone. I want to get all of the turtles." he said
"But we do not need any more. You are just being greedy!"said his wife.
This made the husband even more angry and then they argued for a long time. Still, her husband would not listen and continued on catching more and more turtles. As he kept on, poking about under a hole under the banks of the billabong, he felt something else. It was not a turtle: it was a Crocodile! He tried to grab the Crocodile and throw it onto the dry river bank, so he could take this home for dinner, along with all the turtles.
So you can see that the husband is a very greedy person indeed. But the Crocodile had other ideas, and when he came to the surface of the water in the billabong, and saw the beautiful sunshine again, he was very sure that he would not become someone else's dinner! He turned on the man and bit him severely, before diving back deep into the waters of the billabong.
When the wife saw the Crocodile bite her husband, she cried out for help. Everyone came running to see what the trouble was. When they heard what had happened, they were amazed that the Crocodile had not decided to eat the greedy man for dinner!
Anyway, they helped the wounded husband back to the camp, where he was looked after by his wife. But as soon as he was well enough to go fishing again, he went straight back to the billabong, where the Crocodile lived.
The husband wanted to catch the Crocodile so much, that he had forgotten how lucky he was to have escaped from his last encounter with the Crocodile. So the husband got his brothers, and they all went down the the billabong. Together they would get the Crocodile, and then he would catch the rest of the turtles.
The men searched and searched, but could not find the Crocodile, because he lay very still on the bottom of the billabong, thinking "This man is a very greedy man. He wants to eat all the turtles, so there will not be any left for me or for anyone else. What a foolish, greedy man he is! He really should have learned his lesson last time!"
With that, the Crocodile rushed at the greedy man, grabbed him and took him deep down into the billabong. Here the greedy man stayed as a reminder to all those who might be tempted to take more than they need.
Once you have read the story, you can use this document to complete a reading comprehension task. When you finish this task, please e-mail your answers to your Australian Partner Student, who will correct this for you!
The Greedy Man & The Crocodile
When the world was young, a husband and wife went looking for food in a nearby billabong. The man dived into the water, feeling about with his hands, searching for the turtles, which he knew were there, while his wife waited on the bank.
"I found some" he cried out "Over here!' and he started to hand the turtles, one by one, to his wife. Soon her dilly-bag was full.
"That's enough." she said, "We have plenty to feed ourselves and the whole family." But her husband would not listen and continued to hand up more and more turtles.
"That's enough!" she said again. But still he husband would not listen and continued to catch and hand up more and more turtles.
So his wife called out again "Enough! I cannot carry any more and we have plenty already. We will be sick if we eat all of these. Put some back!" But instead of stopping, her husband became angry.
"Leave me alone. I want to get all of the turtles." he said
"But we do not need any more. You are just being greedy!"said his wife.
This made the husband even more angry and then they argued for a long time. Still, her husband would not listen and continued on catching more and more turtles. As he kept on, poking about under a hole under the banks of the billabong, he felt something else. It was not a turtle: it was a Crocodile! He tried to grab the Crocodile and throw it onto the dry river bank, so he could take this home for dinner, along with all the turtles.
So you can see that the husband is a very greedy person indeed. But the Crocodile had other ideas, and when he came to the surface of the water in the billabong, and saw the beautiful sunshine again, he was very sure that he would not become someone else's dinner! He turned on the man and bit him severely, before diving back deep into the waters of the billabong.
When the wife saw the Crocodile bite her husband, she cried out for help. Everyone came running to see what the trouble was. When they heard what had happened, they were amazed that the Crocodile had not decided to eat the greedy man for dinner!
Anyway, they helped the wounded husband back to the camp, where he was looked after by his wife. But as soon as he was well enough to go fishing again, he went straight back to the billabong, where the Crocodile lived.
The husband wanted to catch the Crocodile so much, that he had forgotten how lucky he was to have escaped from his last encounter with the Crocodile. So the husband got his brothers, and they all went down the the billabong. Together they would get the Crocodile, and then he would catch the rest of the turtles.
The men searched and searched, but could not find the Crocodile, because he lay very still on the bottom of the billabong, thinking "This man is a very greedy man. He wants to eat all the turtles, so there will not be any left for me or for anyone else. What a foolish, greedy man he is! He really should have learned his lesson last time!"
With that, the Crocodile rushed at the greedy man, grabbed him and took him deep down into the billabong. Here the greedy man stayed as a reminder to all those who might be tempted to take more than they need.
Once you have read the story, you can use this document to complete a reading comprehension task. When you finish this task, please e-mail your answers to your Australian Partner Student, who will correct this for you!